Welcome to the Ullapool News

Saturday 25 July saw the opening of ‘Lorg na Còigich’, the stunning memorial land sculpture to a successful resistance to clearance in Coigach in 1852-3. It was a wonderful event attended by many of the local and wider community, and sponsors of the project.  Designed by the acclaimed Scottish artists Will Maclean and Marian Leaven, they closed the ceremony with a toast “Gu cuimhne nan gaisgich tìre” – “To the memory of the land heroes” The celebrations continued at the village hall with a delicious array of food and drink provided by the local community, followed by historical accounts, poetry, readings, dance and lastly music by acclaimed local musicians.

A truly memorable event.

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August Skies — Northwest Scotland Edition       Hello darkness my old friend!

August is the month when the night truly returns to the far north – all summer the closest thing we’ve had to nighttime is “astronomical twilight”. True nighttime (when the sun is more than 18 degrees below the horizon) officially returns on 15 August in Ullapool – for a mere 5 minutes! But on the 16th, one day later, we get an hour and five minutes! So August is a month to enjoy the swift return of darkness and all that comes with it: skies filled with stars and the potential to admire the glowing arch of the Milky Way and beyond.

This year, however, August offers something even more remarkable. Within just over two weeks —

Partial Solar Eclipse — 12 August

One of the astronomical highlights of 2026 occurs on12 August, when a partial solar eclipse be visible across the UK. From Northwest Scotland, the Moon will cover 91% of the Sun’s disc, reaching maximum eclipse at approximately 7:00 pm. Although the Sun will never be completely hidden, the effect will be dramatic as the landscape takes on an unusual quality of light and the Sun becomes a brilliant crescent hanging above the western horizon.

A partial eclipse of this magnitude is an unforgettable sight—to observe safely, order yourself a pair of inexpensive certified solar-eclipse glasses. Ordinary sunglasses provide no protection and are not safe for solar viewing.

Peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower – 12-14 August
This year’s peak on the mornings of 12th , 13th & 14th of August, between midnight and 2am, will not be affected by moonlight as the moon is new on 12th. The brightest Perseids often leave glowing trails across the sky and remain well worth watching. Under the clear, dark skies of Northwest Scotland, patient observers should still enjoy an impressive celestial display after midnight.

Partial Lunar Eclipse — 28 August
Fun fact about solar eclipses: you always get a lunar eclipse about two weeks later. So thanks to that solar eclipse on the 12th, we’ll have an opportunity view a 96% partial lunar eclipse on the early morning of 28 August.  In Northwest Scotland, the eclipse begins at 2:23am and lasts a whopping 4 hours (when the moon sets), so another great reason to stay up late. And unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is completely safe to observe with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope, so a perfect event for families.

Extracts from article by Mark Washer

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Ullapool Book Festival is delighted to now announce that Bernard MacLaverty is the author who will be appearing at our very final event on Saturday 10 October. He will be chaired by our honorary president Chris Dolan.  Bernard MacLaverty was born in Belfast and lived there until 1975 when he moved to Scotland with his wife, Madeline, and four children. He has published six collections of short stories and five novels. His latest book was Blank Pages & Other Stories. He has written versions of his fiction for other media – radio plays, television plays, screenplays (for Cal, for Lamb, and Midwinter Break and short film Bye-Child) and libretti for Scottish Opera. He is a member of Aosdana in Ireland.

The event will be held in Ullapool ferry terminal (upstairs) at 2.30pm. Tickets (£10), will go on sale (online only) on Saturday 29 August at 10am. Details of how to get them will be announced in a couple of weeks.  This final event is being held in memory of our fellow committee member Catriona Martin who sadly died last November. We sorely miss her warmth, wit and wisdom.  When buying tickets there will be an opportunity for you, if you wish, to make a donation to the Renal Unit at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness where Catriona went for dialysis three times a week for five years. She couldn’t praise the staff and her treatment there highly enough.

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Welcome Ullapool is delighted to announce that the new Ullapool Hill Path signs are now in place at each entrance: Broom Park, Rhidorroch Road, Royal Hotel and Braes.

The 4 different and connected paths are marked in Red, Yellow, Green and Blue and a key describes the routes and likely timings.  We wished to avoid single use paper maps and hope that visitors can photograph the sign and follow the newly coloured way markers on their chosen route.

We would like to thank our funders: LBCC EDF Fund; North Highland Initiative CISP Fund, and The Highland Council Ward Discretionary Fund. Thanks are also due to Chris Dyer who undertook putting the new posts in place on behalf of the Skiff Group for a donation to their funds, and Mike Bryant for putting the signs in place. Our Committee members have spent many, many hours on this project and have walked the routes too many times to count, and we hope that everyone will find this useful for many years to come.

The QR Code on the signs will direct visitors to the same map on www.ullapool.com

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